ANAHEIM, Calif. — The ball will go on his mantle, notated with the accomplishment, because otherwise how would he be able to tell it apart from all the others? When Justin Verlander is finished pitching — not any time soon, by the looks of it — his 2,500th strikeout will be one of so many accomplishments on his Hall of Fame resume.

But on Wednesday night at Angel Stadium, it was the benchmark du jour. When in the ninth inning of his eighth career shutout he blew a 95-mph up-and-away fastball by Shohei Ohtani, Verlander became only the 33rd pitcher in major league history to strike out 2,500 batters in a career. Twenty-one of the previous 32 are enshrined in Cooperstown.

“I take a lot of pride, I have my whole career, hurt or not, in taking the ball and going out there and just being there for my teammates and being out there competing,” Verlander said. “I’ve been blessed to stay healthy for the most part. I had a two-year stretch...